Overtime challenges due to firefighter illness, injury mark Sycamore fire chief’s first year

SYCAMORE – One year after Sycamore fire Chief Bart Gilmore was sworn in, he said his first year leading the Sycamore Fire Department had its share of challenges, but he’s still enjoying the opportunity.

Gilmore spent most of his firefighting career in DeKalb before joining the Sycamore Fire Department in 2022 and being hired as fire chief in June 2023. The largest tribulation he said he faced was navigating the department through the loss of Sycamore firefighter Bradley Belanger.

“The challenges that we faced, the passing of a firefighter after a serious illness, dealing with overtime issues, the call volume, I mean, it’s all been a challenge, but I really enjoy it,” Gilmore said.

Belanger died days before Christmas and shortly after he was escorted home from the hospital alongside supporters, loved ones and fellow first responders.

Born in 1978, Belanger was diagnosed with esophageal cancer before his death. Elected in November 2022 to his first term on the DeKalb County Board as a Republican representing District 1, Belanger resigned in January 2023 amid his diagnosis.

Gilmore said the Sycamore Fire Department needed workers to put in thousands of overtime hours in 2023 because the department was understaffed while Belanger was out sick and another worker was injured.

“Just like the homeowner that lives paycheck to paycheck, I don’t have the resources. I can’t absorb things, like, say, the long-term injury or illness that happens, like happened in 2023 with Brad Belanger. I rely on overtime,” Gilmore said. “I can’t absorb that. We need to increase our staffing so that we can absorb things better. It would help us not only just meet the day-to-day call volume, but it would help us meet any large impact injury [and] illnesses.”

In an email to the Daily Chronicle, Sycamore City Manager Michael Hall praised Gilmore’s leadership during his first year on the job.

“Chief Gilmore is doing a good job managing the department and the needs of the community,” Hall said.

After spending 26 years with the DeKalb Fire Department, Gilmore was hired under former Chief Peter Polarek as Sycamore deputy fire chief in September 2022. Polarek retired at the end of 2022, and Carl Reina of Berwyn was selected to be his successor. Gilmore found himself doing the job on an interim basis, however, when Reina was removed from the position in March 2023.

Gilmore was sworn in as fire chief June 5, 2023, and he found he’d already built a bond between himself and the department’s firefighters through his career in DeKalb.

Ian Wheeler, a Sycamore firefighter and paramedic for the past 18 years, said he’d worked alongside Gilmore for years when the DeKalb and Sycamore fire departments would respond to the same call.

“Many of the guys and gals that work here had worked side by side with him on fires, as [a] partnership with DeKalb,” Wheeler said. “They’ve had a good working relationship with him prior to him coming here, and, yeah, he’s just been fantastic to everybody.”

Despite the various challenges that befell the department, Gilmore said he’s happy with the team he has around him.

“I think we have a great staff,” he said. “The firefighters have risen to the challenge every single time. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed it.”